The invention relates to the field of disposable products, and, more particularly, to laminating fabric for disposable garments.
Fabric or layers of material are often formed, sealed, adhered, or positioned so as to overlie or underlie one another to thereby in combination form a laminate or laminated material. For laminating fabric, these layers often involve two rolls of fabric mounted or positioned to unwind so that the webs of material being unwound are combined in an overlying and/or underlying relationship to form a laminate fabric. These laminators when used in a production line, however, can have problems when one or more of the webs breaks, is damaged, or has problems associated with a smooth and continuous production line.
Additionally, tension control of moving webs of fabric is commonly monitored and controlled by the use of a dancer system. Many types of dancer systems have been developed over the years. A basic form of such a system, for example, includes a web of fabric being transported along a conveying system such as rollers, rolls, or conveyor belts being driven by motors. A dancer roll is preferably positioned in line with the conveying system so that the web passes over or engages the dancer roll. The dancer roll is preferably connected to a distal end of a dancer support arm and extends outwardly therefrom. The proximal end of the dancer support arm is preferably pivotally connected to a fixed position or mount so that the dancer roll xe2x80x9cdancesxe2x80x9d or moves along the pivotal direction of the dancer support arm with the varying tension from the web, e.g., moving at different speeds. This dancer system, however, also has several problems associated therewith. For example, the inertia of the dancer can cause the tension control to generally be non-linear with little dynamic response. In other words, when the dancer is being pulled up by the web of material positioned thereon, additional tension is required to start the dancer moving. This problem can become worse, for example, if the mass of the dancer is increased or the arm lengthens. Also, the dancer system provides little or no flexibility for readily adjusting tension within a system such as when a portion of a manufacturing line has problems or goes down.
In view of the foregoing background, the present invention advantageously provides an apparatus and methods for laminating fabric which reduce down time associated with damage, breaks, or other problems with one or more of the layers of fabric being laminated. The present invention also advantageously provides a quad-laminator having a dancer for increasing control of and flexibility in adjusting the tension of the webs of fabric being laminated. The present invention also advantageously provides an apparatus for laminating fabric having an air shaft associated therewith for readily mounting, removing, and driving rolls of fabric. The present invention further provides a dancer having increased tension control for moving webs of fabric. The present invention still further provides an air shaft for readily mounting, removing, and driving rolls of fabric.
An apparatus according to the present invention is provided for laminating fabric for a disposable garment according to the present invention. The apparatus preferably includes a frame, a first roll of fabric mounted to the frame so as to provide a first web of fabric when unwound from the first fabric roll, and a second roll of fabric mounted to the frame and positioned adjacent the first fabric roll so as to provide a second web of fabric when unwound from the second fabric roll. A fabric dance controller is preferably positioned downstream from the first and second fabric rolls and positioned to receive the first a and second webs of fabric therefrom for dancingly controlling the tension of the first and second webs of fabric being received from the first and second fabric rolls. Additionally, a fabric laminator is preferably positioned downstream from said fabric dance controlling means and positioned to receive the first and second webs of fabric for combiningly laminating the first and second webs of fabric to thereby provide a laminated web of fabric therefrom.
More particularly, according to other aspects of the present invention, the apparatus advantageously can include a laminating frame having upper and lower laminating frame regions, a first roll of fabric mounted to the upper laminating frame region so as to provide a first web of fabric when unwound from the first fabric roll, and a second roll of fabric mounted to the lower laminating frame region and positioned adjacent the first fabric roll so as to provide a second web of fabric when unwound from said second fabric roll. The apparatus can also include a third redundant roll of fabric mounted to the upper laminating frame region and positioned adjacent the first fabric roll so as to provide a third web of fabric when unwound from the third fabric roll and a fourth redundant roll of fabric mounted to the lower frame region and positioned adjacent the second and third fabric rolls so as to provide a fourth web of fabric when unwound from the fourth fabric roll. A first splicer is preferably mounted to the upper laminating frame region for splicing the third web of fabric to the first web of frame and a second splicer is preferably mounted to the lower laminating frame region for splicing the fourth web of fabric to the second web of fabric. The apparatus preferably further includes fabric dance controlling means mounted to the laminating frame, positioned downstream from at least the first and second fabric rolls, and positioned to receive at least the first and second webs of fabric therefrom for dancingly controlling the tension of at least the first and second webs of fabric being received from at least the first and second fabric rolls and fabric laminating means mounted to the laminating frame, positioned downstream from the fabric dance controlling means, and positioned to receive at least the first and second webs of fabric for combiningly laminating at least the first and second webs of fabric to thereby provide a laminated web of fabric therefrom.
The present invention also advantageously provides methods of laminating fabric for a disposable garment. A method preferably includes mounting a first roll of fabric to a frame so as to provide a first web of fabric when unwound from the first fabric roll, mounting a second roll of fabric to the frame and positioned adjacent the first fabric roll so as to provide a second web of fabric when unwound from the second fabric roll, dancingly controlling the tension of at least one of the first and second webs of fabric being received from at least one of the first and second fabric rolls, and combiningly laminating the first and second webs of fabric to thereby provide a laminated web of fabric therefrom.
Another method of laminating fabric for a disposable garment according to the present invention preferably includes dancingly controlling the tension of at least one of first and second webs of fabric being received from at least one of respective first and second fabric rolls and combiningly laminating the first and second webs of fabric to thereby provide a laminated web of fabric therefrom.
This method can also advantageously have the dancingly controlling step including providing at least one dancer assembly positioned to receive one of the first and second webs of fabric for dancingly controlling tension in the respective one of the first and second webs of fabric and weightingly controlling the tension applied from the at least one dancer assembly to the web of fabric positioned thereon. The step of weightingly controlling the tension preferably includes adjustably increasing the weight of at least one fabric guide engaging a portion of the web of fabric to thereby increase the tension applied to the web of fabric and adjustably decreasing the weight of at least one fabric guide engaging the web of fabric to thereby decrease the tension applied to the web of fabric.